{"id":21084,"date":"2015-10-02T17:08:46","date_gmt":"2015-10-02T16:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/?p=21084"},"modified":"2021-01-13T10:42:30","modified_gmt":"2021-01-13T10:42:30","slug":"is-there-life-on-mars-were-finally-starting-to-wonder-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2015\/10\/02\/is-there-life-on-mars-were-finally-starting-to-wonder-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Is there life on Mars? We\u2019re finally starting to wonder again"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b><i>Yes please, lets hope so even if its just the odd microbe \ud83d\ude42<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><!-- GUARDIAN WATERMARK --><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2015\/oct\/02\/life-on-mars-nasa-water\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/image.guardian.co.uk\/sys-images\/Guardian\/Pix\/pictures\/2010\/03\/01\/poweredbyguardianBLACK.png?resize=140%2C45\" alt=\"Powered by Guardian.co.uk\" width=\"140\" height=\"45\" \/>This article titled &#8220;Is there life on Mars? We\u2019re finally starting to wonder again&#8221; was written by Seth Shostak, for theguardian.com on Friday 2nd October 2015 11.41 UTC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The most interesting thing we wonder about Mars is this: does it house Martians? This week, some <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/science\/2015\/sep\/28\/nasa-scientists-find-evidence-flowing-water-mars\">highly technical research touted during a Nasa press conference<\/a> has given hope for an answer.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"element element-rich-link element--thumbnail\">  <span>Related: <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/science\/2015\/sep\/28\/nasa-scientists-find-evidence-flowing-water-mars\">Nasa scientists find evidence of flowing water on Mars<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Mars is arguably more seductive than Mata Hari. For early astronomers, it was the only planet on which they could see surface features. More out of hope than reason, they compared these features to the topography of Earth. The two worlds were evidently similar, and few scientists doubted that the red planet was carpeted in biology.<\/p>\n<p>In the 1970s, it became possible to send spacecraft to the surface of Mars, and Nasa enthusiastically did so. Two highly sophisticated, life-seeking landers were sent to the red planet in what was known as the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/science\/2014\/jun\/28\/nasa-launch-saucer-vehicle-parachute-hawaii-mars\">Viking mission<\/a>. The smart money wagered that these rocket-borne biology labs, once landed, would open their electronic eyes and behold Martians. The celebrated American scientist <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Carl_Sagan\">Carl Sagan<\/a> had ventured: \u201cLarge organisms, possibly detectable by the Viking lander cameras, are not only possible on Mars; they may be favoured.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What the cameras actually saw was a desiccated landscape of rock and sand. Nothing changed and nothing moved, save for windblown dust. There were no clear signs of life \u2013 even microbial life.<\/p>\n<p>Their experiments done, the Viking landers slowly died in the bitter cold of Mars, and centuries of optimistic speculation died with them. The red planet was apparently a dead planet.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"element element-image\" data-media-id=\"1f40247a7f2f533d943a202d53fdebcacabcb476\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/media.guim.co.uk\/1f40247a7f2f533d943a202d53fdebcacabcb476\/0_0_2880_1728\/1000.jpg?resize=604%2C362&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Water on Mars\" width=\"604\" height=\"362\" class=\"gu-image\" \/><figcaption> <span class=\"element-image__caption\">\u2018Scientists reported that the recurrent slope lineae were caused by briny, liquid water staining the dry sand.\u2019<\/span> <span class=\"element-image__credit\">Photograph: Demotix Live News\/Corbis<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>However, that disappointing verdict may be wrong. For decades, evidence has mounted that the environment of Mars used to be far more temperate than now. Its atmosphere was thicker, temperatures were warmer, and rivers, lakes and an ocean dotted its landscapes. Life could have sprung up and flourished.<\/p>\n<p>The significance of Nasa\u2019s press conference this week is that the descendants of any ancient life could still be at home on the planet, and within easy reach of a new generation of landers.<\/p>\n<p>The agency presented news about dark streaks that appear on the walls of some Martian craters and cliffs during warm weather, known as recurrent slope lineae. Scientists reported that they were caused by briny, liquid water staining the dry sand. It\u2019s reasonable to think that much of the water comes from aquifers, extensive underground reservoirs that huddle just below Mars\u2019s dry surface.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, this water would be useful for human expeditions to the red planet. But the truly revolutionary thing is that the lineae are signposts telling us where we should search for Martian natives. All we need do is land a robotic craft near one of these features, scoop up the salty mud, put it under a microscope, and check for anything that wiggles. Voila: life in space.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, this is such an appealing idea that it may sway Nasa\u2019s approach to searching for life on Mars. After Viking, the space agency concluded that a hunt for biology in only a few places was expensive and inconclusive. It was misled by the fact that on Earth you can find life everywhere.<\/p>\n<p>Consequently, Nasa shifted gears and began searching for habitats, such as the beds of ancient lakes, where it might find the fossil remains of life that is long gone. By looking for extinct rather than extant life, it could sample all of Martian geologic history.<\/p>\n<p>Nasa fans call that approach \u201cmethodical\u201d. But critics call it \u201ctoo conservative\u201d, and it\u2019s now possible that the lineae story will prompt a reappraisal of this longstanding philosophy.<\/p>\n<p>The lineae are like Xs on a treasure map, obvious places to look for life, and begging to be explored. And if Nasa doesn\u2019t wish to send robots to these tantalising spots, some other organisation may.<\/p>\n<p>Finding life in hidden reservoirs beneath the crimson sands of Mars would be revelatory. If the biochemistry of these microbes was the same as ours, we would suspect that rocks from long ago carried their ancestors to Earth. And that would mean \u2013 deep in our DNA \u2013 that we are Martians.<\/p>\n<p>But if not, if we find life that\u2019s unrelated to ours, then we\u2019ll know of two worlds that have spawned biology \u2013 and will confront the unavoidable fact that the universe is teeming with living things.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"element element-interactive interactive\" data-interactive=\"https:\/\/interactive.guim.co.uk\/embed\/iframe-wrapper\/0.1\/boot.js\" data-canonical-url=\"http:\/\/interactive.guim.co.uk\/uploader\/embed\/2015\/10\/et_water\/giv-31114KftRgbiVHxGe\/\" data-alt=\"Mars water\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/interactive.guim.co.uk\/uploader\/embed\/2015\/10\/et_water\/giv-31114KftRgbiVHxGe\/\">Mars water<\/a> <\/figure>\n<p>guardian.co.uk &#169; Guardian News &amp; Media Limited 2010<\/p>\n<p>Published via the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/open-platform\/news-feed-wordpress-plugin\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Guardian plugin page\" rel=\"noopener\">Guardian News Feed<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.org\/extend\/plugins\/the-guardian-news-feed\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Wordress plugin page\" rel=\"noopener\">plugin<\/a> for WordPress.<\/p>\n<p><!-- END GUARDIAN WATERMARK --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nasa\u2019s discovery of water on the red planet are like Xs on a treasure map \u2013 and bring us a small step closer to discovering Martian life<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,48,270,272,281,202,273,271],"class_list":["post-21084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musings","tag-article","tag-comment","tag-mars","tag-nasa","tag-opinion","tag-science","tag-seth-shostak","tag-space"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6NRDR-5u4","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":175197,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2021\/12\/31\/is-it-safe\/","url_meta":{"origin":21084,"position":0},"title":"Is it Safe?","author":"diana Stone","date":"December 31, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \"For last year`s words belong to last year`s language and next year`s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.\" - T.S. Eliot Well is it?\u00a0 We have now had 2 years worth of Covid-19. Are we finally seeing the light or is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Diana Stones Songs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Diana Stones Songs","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/diana_stones_songs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":177775,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2024\/08\/11\/the-thin-veneer-is-starting-to-crack\/","url_meta":{"origin":21084,"position":1},"title":"The Thin Veneer Is Starting To Crack","author":"diana Stone","date":"August 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"My mental health is playing up and pushing me off balance slightly again. Whoops.A bit of a polish and buff up wont cover it this time. Ho hum. But we do what we can whilst we can. Or at least we try. At times I do think should I consider\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Delta Ladies&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Delta Ladies","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/delta-ladies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Ben-fiddle-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Ben-fiddle-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Ben-fiddle-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Ben-fiddle-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Ben-fiddle-2.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":175008,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2021\/06\/27\/a-june-2021-round-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":21084,"position":2},"title":"A June 2021 Round Up","author":"diana Stone","date":"June 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Personally\u00a0 it's been a very draining 6 months.\u00a0 I have been working solidly on music projects both solo and collaborative but of course nearly al remote ones. Other stuff I had hoped to do has ground to a complete halt now. Also mostly due to lockdown I gave not really\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Delta Ladies&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Delta Ladies","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/delta-ladies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Diana-Stone Studio.APRIL 2021","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Studio-Diana-Stone-2021.jpg?fit=1024%2C499&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Studio-Diana-Stone-2021.jpg?fit=1024%2C499&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Studio-Diana-Stone-2021.jpg?fit=1024%2C499&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Studio-Diana-Stone-2021.jpg?fit=1024%2C499&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":153998,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2019\/12\/25\/christmas-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":21084,"position":3},"title":"Christmas 2019","author":"diana Stone","date":"December 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This year is drawing to a close. Its been hard work but we are still here.\u00a0The last 6 months of the year has been mostly bad news in one way or another.\u00a0Much has come to light that is deeply disturbing in so many ways.\u00a0 The illusion that the UK is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Musings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/20191217_160030-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/20191217_160030-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/20191217_160030-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/20191217_160030-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/20191217_160030-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/20191217_160030-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1139,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2011\/10\/22\/mermaids-and-cambridge-folk-club\/","url_meta":{"origin":21084,"position":4},"title":"Mermaids and Cambridge folk club","author":"diana Stone","date":"October 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a fun gig last night (Sat 15th October) at the Mermaid which is a bareboards ale house in St Albans that has always been an enjoyable gig for us and I finally felt back on form again. I was begining to wonder a little. We were not in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Delta Ladies&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Delta Ladies","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/delta-ladies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":179383,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2025\/10\/16\/normal-service-will-be-resumed-shortly\/","url_meta":{"origin":21084,"position":5},"title":"Normal Service Will Be Resumed Shortly","author":"diana Stone","date":"October 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Diana Stones Glasscage \u00b7 Come On Baby Feel Your Way I always tried to do no harm. But when I am feeling good it shows somehow and my light comes on and people are drawn to me... Funny as I am totally a gloom and doom merchant, living a life\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Musings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/stagedisdant.png?fit=686%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/stagedisdant.png?fit=686%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/stagedisdant.png?fit=686%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21084\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}